Vocus

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Vocus
Type Public (NASDAQ: VOCS)
Founded 1992
Headquarters Lanham, Maryland
Key people Richard Rudman, CEO & Chairman
Industry Technology
Products Internet Software & Services
Revenue US$58.076 million
Employees 329
Website www.vocus.com

Vocus (NASDAQ: VOCS) is a publicly held company that provides on-demand Web-based software for public relations. Their software provides news monitoring, press release distribution, media lists and analytics to help their customers communicate with the media and the public. They are based out of Lanham, Maryland, but have additional offices throughout Europe and Asia. According to the Washington Post index, Vocus is one of the top 125 public companies headquartered in Washington and its suburbs.[1]

According to Yahoo! Finance, notable competitors include United Business Media (with PR Newswire), Medialink Worldwide, and Factiva.[2] Others include Cision AB, Ether-ray, Glide Technologies and Biz360.[citation needed] Vocus went public in 2005.

Contents

[edit] History

Vocus was co-founded by Rick Rudman and Bob Lentz in 1992.

In December 2005, Vocus' IPO (initial public offering) took place.

In August 2006, Vocus acquired PRWeb an online press release distribution service.

[edit] Products & Services

Vocus sells versions of its on-demand software for Public Relations and Government Relations. It's PR software addresses three primary areas: Media Relations, News Distribution and News Monitoring and Analysis. The PR software consists of individual modules such as News On-Demand, a Media Database, Project Management and Analytics, which are bundled together and sold in various editions.[1]

  • Enterprise Edition-Designed for large organizations
  • Professional Edition-Designed for mid-sized and small organizations and PR professionals
  • Small Business Edition-Designed for small businesses

Vocus' GR software provides organizations with the ability to manage their grassroots networks and Political Action Committees (PACs)

PRWeb sells online press releases on a per release basis via it's website.[2]

[edit] PRWeb

PRWeb is a Vocus company, which distributes press releases over the Internet via RSS. Distribution partners include Yahoo! News, Google News, Lycos News, Topix.net, Excite News and eMediaWire.

PRWeb also owns international web sites to distribute press releases in Spanish (Ambos Medios), French, Chinese, and to French-Canadian and English-Canadian markets.

PRWeb operates a family of Web sites. These sites include:

  • PRWeb.com – The main PRWeb Web site that allows you to upload and distribute press releases online.
  • PRWeb Photowire – A digital image wire service.
  • PRWeb Podcast - Featuring recorded interviews about press releases.
  • RSS Pad – A Web site that allows you to create your own RSS feeds.
  • Newspad – The search portal for all PRWeb applications.
  • 301url – A Web site that helps you create shorter URLs.

[edit] 2005

PRWeb expanded the platform with Social Bookmarking technologies to help press releases become part of the social commentary within blogs, in social bookmarking services and other appropriate social media and Web 2.0 technologies.

[edit] 2006

PRWeb introduced a series of new Online Visibility technologies including: PRWebPhotowire (a free search optimized photowire service), PRWebPodcast (an audio interview attached to the press release), and RSSPad (a tool for creating and managing RSS feeds).

In February, PRWeb announced an agreement with Pheedo to distribute news through their network of online publishers.[3]

Trackback technology was added so press releases which are discussed elsewhere on the Internet will contain links to those conversations, SEO Wizard, an SEO tool, was added to help press release writers optimize their word choices for search engine attractiveness, and added Tags space to press releases to enable them to be accessed from Technorati, Digg, del.icio.us, and other Web 2.0 sites.

In August, PRWeb was acquired by Vocus, Inc., a provider of on-demand software for corporate communications and public relations, for approximately $28 million consisting of $20.8 million in cash and 494,543 shares of Vocus common stock.[4]

In October, PRWeb discontinued offering a free service level.

[edit] 2007

In March, PRWeb announced a partnership with the Associated Press that would allow PRWeb users to distribute their news to top US news outlets.[5]

In June, PRWeb introduced "Feature Video", allowing customers to embed a video directly in a press release.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Washington Post - What is the Post 200?
  2. ^ VOCS: Competitors for VOCUS, INC. - Yahoo! Finance
  3. ^ Pheedo, PRWeb Put the News in RSS Ads
  4. ^ Washington Times, August 29, 2006: Vocus buys PRWeb to distribute online
  5. ^ PRWeb Announces Media Visibility Package to Enhance Press Release Distribution

[edit] External links